Community Calendar

FloatLife Fest is back for its 9th year, and it’s shaping up to be our biggest and best yet — more races, more music, more trails, and more ways to enjoy an amazing, outdoor-loving community including great music, Disc Golf, Onewheel / PEVs, fun on the lake, and so much more.

This year we’ve added:

-A mass start race from downtown Old Fort
-Glow-in-the-dark disc golf with USDGC, Vibe Time and Find The Line (yes, it’s as fun as it sounds)
-More action on the water, with Kayaks, SUPs, swimming, and loads of lakeside activities
-And of course, our Rider of the Year Awards + nightly highlight reels of the days fun, which are always a mega hit!

Don’t Miss out! Get woven into the vibe, the content, and the culture of FLF 8.

All throughout September, guests are invited to join the mountain’s naturalists as they count and celebrate the annual spectacle of fall raptor migration. Participants can observe the migration from viewing locations on Linville Peak (across the Mile High Swinging Bridge) and Half Moon Overlook (the first major overlook when entering the park). Included with admission.

Open Hearts Art Center is proud to celebrate its 20th anniversary with a community celebration on Friday, September 12th from 5 to 8 PM at its downtown studio at 217 Coxe Avenue.

The evening will feature light refreshments, music with Open Hearts own DJ Sparky, a festive photo booth station, and the official opening of the OHAC Staff Art Exhibit, showcasing personal work by Open Hearts staff members. Select OHAC artist’s artwork and handmade paper flower bouquets will also be available for purchase.

This milestone event also falls during DSP Appreciation Week (September 7 to 13), a nationally recognized time to celebrate Direct Support Professionals. The staff exhibit offers a unique opportunity to highlight the creativity, care, and commitment of our DSPs, who are the heart of our day-to-day operations.

This celebration marks 20 years of empowering adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities through the arts. The milestone belongs to every artist, staff member, family, and community supporter who has been part of the journey.

This event is free and open to the public. Donations are greatly appreciated, with 100% of all contributions directly supporting Open Hearts’ mission to provide creative opportunities, inclusion, and empowerment for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

To learn more visit www.openheartsartcenter.org

This craft circle will explore themes related to gender and sexuality through simple handicrafts, giving each other permission to experiment, go out on a limb, and get messy! Do you want to try out a new name or pronouns? A daring new look you’re nervous to debut? You’ve come to the right place. All are welcome and no prior art-making experience is necessary.

This month we will create two dimensional figures using collage. We'll provide materials (magazines, glue sticks, scissors, cardboard), all you need to bring is your boundless imagination to bring your lil' guy to life!

Guest facilitator Red Herring (they/them) appreciates art and words, photographs Asheville nightlife, organizes Queer Figure Drawing AVL, and collages small humanoid figures to decorate the inside of their kitchen cabinets. Red is excited to share queer crafting space at Firestorm with beginner or experienced collagists, and also looks forward to meeting the "little guys" you make.

Firestorm collective member Esme is an avid reader, a professional anarchist, and an amateur crafter. They love creating intimate containers for community members to connect at Firestorm. Drawing from their experience participating in art therapy, the process of creating—rather than the final product—will be the emphasis of the crafts she undertakes.

MountainTrue is BEYOND thrilled to bring the BANFF Centre Mountain Film Festival World Tour to Asheville, NC, on September 12 & 13, 2025 — and you’re invited for not one, but TWO unforgettable nights of high-altitude excitement! Join us for a celebration of jaw-dropping adventure, heart-pounding sports, wild places, and inspiring stories from around the globe 🌍 Whether you’re a climber, paddler, trail fanatic, or armchair adventurer, there’s something here to spark your spirit.

Each night features a completely different lineup of films, so go ahead — double-dip the adventure!

This event is going to be hotter than a campfire on a chilly night! Don’t get left at basecamp — snag your tickets now and secure your spot for the adventure🔥

All proceeds support the work of MountainTrue

All throughout September, guests are invited to join the mountain’s naturalists as they count and celebrate the annual spectacle of fall raptor migration. Participants can observe the migration from viewing locations on Linville Peak (across the Mile High Swinging Bridge) and Half Moon Overlook (the first major overlook when entering the park). Included with admission.

The 16th West Asheville Garden Stroll is Saturday, September 13 from 11 AM to 4 PM. It features 13 diverse gardens in the Falconhurst neighborhood, north of Haywood Road between Mitchell Avenue and Louisiana. Stroll Guides with a map and garden descriptions will be available from 11:00 until 3:30 at the parking lot across from West Asheville Baptist Church, 926 Haywood Road. (Note to regular attendees: there’s no kickoff program this year.)

The Garden Stroll is free, and all are welcome to join in this community event, rain or shine. However, leave your four-footed friends at home -- dogs are not allowed in the gardens.
In keeping with our “stroll” concept, we encourage you to park at one of the WAGS-designated lots on Haywood Road and walk or bike the 2.5 mile route.

This year’s gardens include a permaculture "grass to food" yard with all kinds of edibles; formal designs and eclectic ones that have evolved over time; a “photographer’s paradise;” a large Bountiful Cities community garden hidden among residential streets; whimsical yard art; and of course, chickens. You’ll see new and mature gardens as well as works-in-progress, all offering the chance to chat with friendly and enthusiastic gardeners.

Our theme, Entwined, was inspired by the amazing interconnectedness of nature. In a healthy garden the plants, insects, birds, fungi and soil bacteria form an interdependent community that allows them all to thrive. The same is true in a healthy neighborhood. After Helene, the Falconhurst community -- like many neighborhoods in WNC -- grew even more entwined, as neighbors gathered around the well at the small farm to collect water and share necessities, information, and good vibes. Let’s all work to make our communities and our gardens more “entwined!”

MountainTrue is BEYOND thrilled to bring the BANFF Centre Mountain Film Festival World Tour to Asheville, NC, on September 12 & 13, 2025 — and you’re invited for not one, but TWO unforgettable nights of high-altitude excitement! Join us for a celebration of jaw-dropping adventure, heart-pounding sports, wild places, and inspiring stories from around the globe 🌍 Whether you’re a climber, paddler, trail fanatic, or armchair adventurer, there’s something here to spark your spirit.

Each night features a completely different lineup of films, so go ahead — double-dip the adventure!

This event is going to be hotter than a campfire on a chilly night! Don’t get left at basecamp — snag your tickets now and secure your spot for the adventure🔥

All proceeds support the work of MountainTrue

East Nash Grass exemplifies the best of what bluegrass has to offer — as being named the 2024 IBMA [International Bluegrass Music Association] New Artist of the Year would suggest. But their breathtaking talent as singers, instrumentalists, and composers is just the beginning. While other acts chase their tail in search of nostalgia, the secret to East Nash Grass lies in their unflinching ability to be themselves.

It certainly helps that they are a veritable supergroup of award-winners who have been performing longer than anyone would guess that they’ve been alive. With a lifetime of experience in both new and legacy acts (Dan Tyminski, Tim O’Brien, Sierra Hull, Rhonda Vincent, etc.), the tradition of bluegrass is fundamental to who they are as musicians and performers. Yet it’s their irreverent, adventurous, and audacious tendencies as next-gen performers that light a fire under audiences. Their ability to hone this edge was forged in the crucible of a dive bar outside of Nashville, TN that they all but single-handedly put on the (bluegrass) map during their seven-year weekly residency.

After hundreds of sets (and countless late-night jams), through personnel changes, industry changes, and a never-ending string of unprecedented world events, East Nash Grass has coalesced into the hair-raising ensemble of Harry Clark [mandolin], Cory Walker [banjo], James Kee [guitar], Maddie Denton [fiddle], and Jeff Partin [bass/dobro]. Their love of both bluegrass and the absurd can be felt in both their live shows and on their new album “All God’s Children” (Mountain Fever, 2025). Much like watching a bowling ball and feather fall together, expectations of what should and shouldn’t work are challenged as the paradox of authenticity is revealed. Shock leads to excitement as risks keep listeners on the edge of their seats and irrefutable mastery drives home that this is no mere imitation of bluegrass: this IS bluegrass.

All throughout September, guests are invited to join the mountain’s naturalists as they count and celebrate the annual spectacle of fall raptor migration. Participants can observe the migration from viewing locations on Linville Peak (across the Mile High Swinging Bridge) and Half Moon Overlook (the first major overlook when entering the park). Included with admission.